Wii U

Nintendo came out strong this morning with its 2013 gaming preview for the Wii U, opening with an apology from president Satoru Iwata for the delay in new titles, and now you can watch the whole event over again. The Japanese company certainly packed in the news, even if specific details on each individual title were often in short supply. Among the meat: a new Zelda, specially written for the Wii U, as well as a Mario Kart game, and gameplay previewed from The Wonderful 101. Read on for all the details!

Nintendo has promised a new Zelda title, specially written for the Wii U, though eager gamers will have to wait until after the Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has been released. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is due this fall, and will see all-new graphics thanks to the extra visual grunt the Wii U puts under your TV. However, it's the brand new Zelda game that has enthusiasts really keen.

During this morning's Nintendo Direct web broadcast, the company announced a slew of new features that are coming to their newest console, the Wii U. We already know that a "Virtual Console" is on its way, as well as some speed boosts to the console to remedy game-loading times. However, the company also announced new developments coming to the Miiverse.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has apologized for the absence of Wii U games in early 2013, insisting that the team needed more time to refine the gameplay, but saying that new titles would arrive from late March. First up will be Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, on March 22, followed by LEGO City Undercover at the end of the month. However, that should start a minor rush of new games, including The Wonderful 101 and some freshly-announced titles. Update: Now with gameplay demo videos after the cut!

Nintendo is readying a pair of updates for the Wii U, one for release in spring and another in summer, to speed the console's performance; meanwhile, Virtual Console functionality will be added after the spring update. Revealed during a Nintendo Direct videocast today, president Satoru Iwata said the company had heard complaints about how fast Wii U games loaded and how sluggish it was to return to the console's main menu, and promised they'd be addressed with the new firmware.

Tomorrow, Nintendo will be holding another Nintendo Direct livestream. These livestreams are usually worth watching for one reason or another, but if you're a Wii U owner, you'll definitely want to tune in tomorrow. That's because Satoru Iwata will apparently be announcing some new Wii U titles during the address, and if we're lucky, maybe he'll even announce some release dates.

Yesterday, Disney announced Disney Infinity, a new game that looks to capture a segment of the huge audience created by Activision's Skylanders line of games. We're sure the announcement lit up the imaginations of many different children, but those trips into famous Disney worlds are going to cost a healthy amount of money. Disney has stuck the starter pack with a $74.99 price tag, and each "Play Set" will require a payment of $34.99.

Back when Activision announced the first Skylanders game, a fair few people thought that offering collectible toys to use with a video game wasn't a winning idea. Fast forward to today and Skylanders is easily one of Activision's biggest franchises, perhaps second to only Call of Duty. Disney today introduced the world to its answer to Skylanders, officially pulling the veil off Disney Infinity.

In 41 days since its launch, the Nintendo Wii U managed to beat the Wii in sales by about $30 million. December saw Wii U sales numbers over 460,000, with a total of almost 890,000 units selling since its launch. This information comes from the NPD Group, with its report covering the time period from November 25 to December 29.

Well this is interesting: if, by chance, you manage to find a used Wii U, you might want to pick it up before someone else swoops in and buys it. In doing so, you could potentially net a few free games. Users over at NeoGAF are reporting that used Wii U consoles will grant access to the previous player's digitally purchased games, despite the fact that the hard drive was cleared before purchase.